No Midas touch for the Italian economy

From European Voice's Entre-Nous column

5/18/05, 5:00 PM CET

Updated 4/23/14, 8:34 PM CET

In an interview with La Repubblica that was also highlighted by the German magazine Der Spiegel, Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, points out that he has tripled his personal fortune since he entered politics in 1994 and is now worth €9.6 billion.

He concludes that he is “a genius”. The Midas touch is apparently less easily transferred to the Italian public finances. This week the Italian finance ministry forecast that the economy would grow at less than 1.2%. The public deficit as a percentage of gross domestic product will be well above 3% this year and next. The Commission estimates it will be 4.6% in 2006.

Now might just be the moment for Berlusconi to devote some of his genius to the Italian economy.

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